I'm worrying about some brown spotting I've been having for the last three days. I'm scared it might be implantation bleeding.

The problem was that on Saturday Aug 23 I had unbarriered sex. My contraception method is the patch. I was supposed to change it Friday, the day before, but I forgot! (I was in week 2 of the four week cycle). Later that day I remembered, but I didn't have the patch with me, so I planned to change it when I got home that night. If I had changed it that night it would have been okay because they say you have a 48 hour window if you forget. But I didn't remember that night and I ended up putting on a new patch on Monday. After Monday we used a condom. But I'm wondering, was I still protected that Saturday, or could I become pregnant from it?

I'm also wondering, the patch instructions say that if it's been 48 hours since you were supposed to change your patch, you must apply a new patch as soon as you remember. Then you will start a new four week cycle and have a new patch change day and a new day one. Does this mean I have to apply two more patches after that one, and then take it off for my period? Will this prolong my period, or will my period come when it's supposed to (next week)?

And if there is very small chances that I could be pregnant, then is there any other likely reason for this strange spotting?

Lastly, I'm wondering when is the soonest I can get accurate results from a pregnancy test!

I will be very thankful if you reply,Nelta
Posts: 1 | Registered: Sep 2008
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Implantation bleeding, when it happens, is usually brief spotting that some women don't even notice, not spotting that lasts several days.

It's difficult to know if you've had a risk; sperm can survive in the vagina for up to 5 days, but only under the right conditions- one of the things the patch does is make the vagina less hospitable to sperm.

If I'm reading the instructions from the package correctly, you start a new cycle with the new patch you've just applied (meaning that you'll apply two more patches after that one and the have your withdrawl bleed). You can consult your pharmacist about it if you still feel uncertain/confused.

A very likely reason for your spotting is that you didn't apply a new patch until Monday.

A pregnancy test is accurate 10-14 days after a risk.

Hope this has answered your questions!

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